Monday, January 23, 2012

In a discovery that will shock fans of Reston's fancy video news segments, it turns out that the title "Reston Today" was coined well before the advent of Betamax. This 1975 fact sheet provides a treasure trove of information about our beloved earth-toned community in the midst of the oil crisis, platform shoes, and [insert generic 70s reference here]. So what can we learn about yesterday's today?

The Reston of 1975 was only about one-third of its way to its present size. It had just under 5,000 jobs for a population of 26,000, meaning that the ongoing debate over commercial-residential balance is hardly a new one.

Speaking of neighborhoods, here's a list of the ones on the books back in 1975:

We like the term "Council of Clusters." Sounds a bit like the League of Justice, only with Pantone swatches.

Fortunately, there was already lots to do in Reston. Among the listed "recreational facilities," the horse stables appear to have still been standing. And these strange companies kept appearing under "utilities" -- outfits like "Virginia Electric and Power Co." "Washington Gas Light Co." and "C&P Telephone Co. of Virginia." Where are the listings for Internet providers? Guess we'd have to check the mail for a CD-ROM3.5" 5.25" floppy disk from CompuServe or something.

And finally, as we wait for funky parallelograms to rise from the ground, please to be checking out the new architectural hawtness ca. 1975, along with a slogan almost as catchy as Live, Work, Play and Get Involved(tm):

The russet brown water stains probably weren't on the original document back in 1975, but they're certainly appreciated.